Unions Represent the Collective

LoninPa wrote: Is Ransom saying that the Senate would never approve the tax bill that they already approved and sent to the house? I know it started out as a non-tax bill with the tax part amended on. But that hardly changes the fact that the Senate voted for it.

Editor's note: This column orginally appeared December 9, 2012.

What Ransom, pretty much alone, seems to have missed is that the Democrats don't have to vote for a tax hike bill. The Republicans voted for one 12 years ago (extended by a compromise for two years) and it will go into effect in January. The Democrats only plan on passing tax cut bills. That is not so unpopular. - Obama: More Peas for You!

Dear Comrade Lon,

Getting past the argument that tax bills must originate in the House, technically speaking, you are still wrong. You’re wrong mostly because you’re a liberal. But the particulars of your argument aren’t good to you either.

If you think Democrats are going to be able to skate through on the argument that because they didn’t vote for anything and just let tax cuts expire that somehow they won’t have to own the resulting tax increases, then you don’t understand why the Democrats didn’t vote for Obama’s budget in February. No one’s escaping from this well no matter what the GOP does.

Personally I hope the GOP moderates help pass the tax increase in the House. Increasing tax rates is bad policy and by passing them Obama will once again get his wish- and it won’t have any good effect economically. While it won’t hurt Obama particularly, it also won’t help his party.

The most powerful argument that conservatives had in 2010 is that Democrats had a free hand to do what they wanted in 2009 and 2010 and their plan didn’t work.